Chapter 149: A Life Without Regrets (2)

Living a life without regrets...

Was that even possible?

As Lauren immersed her body in the bathtub’s warm water, she could not stop thinking about the talk that transpired between her and Vivian. It wasn’t possible to live a life without regrets, she thought. People make mistakes and no one had a full grasp of what the future may bring. If she was to take the most convenient path, how could she guarantee that she wouldn’t regret it in the future?

She guessed what Vivian meant was... she should take the risk and be brave, to be honest with Alec regardless of the outcome. To be honest with herself. To be able to express her feelings.

After taking her time in the tub, it was already seven in the evening by the time she was finished. After slipping into her nightdress, Alec soon arrived. She heard from Matthias that he left that afternoon to go to the council laboratory.

"You refused to have dinner I heard," was the first thing he said. She was sitting in front of the mirror and combing her hair. She just glanced at him through the mirror as he took off his gray fur coat.

"I have eaten some snacks earlier this afternoon so I am not hungry." She also had a lot in her mind to even think about dinner... but she didn’t say that and just ended up sighing as she continued combing her hair, "How did it go?"

"Dr. Bentley and Sean had made some progress. Their assumption is that the poison on the rose we found at Abalone village was made with the extract of a rare plant called Evera."

"Evera? I haven’t heard of a plant with a name as such." Lauren wasn’t a devoted botanist but she had books about different kinds of poisonous plants. She wanted to gain knowledge as much as she could. She believed knowledge was power. Using brute force in fighting adversities might not be helpful at all times. She had to teach herself wise ways of dealing with people.

"It is unfamiliar to me as well. Dr. Bentley doesn’t know a lot of things about it and has never seen one. He said he had only read about it in an ancient medical book. Evera is said to be a plant that can be found in a place that most people don’t know of. It is considered to be something like a myth that doesn’t exist in the real world because no one had talked about possessing it for centuries."

Lauren stood from her seat when Alec walked towards the bathroom and asked, "Are you going to bathe? Will you take long?"

She was curious about the Evera plant and she wanted him to keep talking about it.

He paused to turn to her. He raised an eyebrow, "Want to join me?" But then he noticed her hair was a little damp and the fresh scent of her soap filling the room, "Oh well, you have already bathed. But if you cannot bear to wait for me to finish, I suggest you accompany me inside the bathroom. We can talk while I bathe."

"We can... talk while you bathe?" Lauren wanted to talk to Alec but why did it sound inappropriate to her? They were married and had consummated their marriage but the thought of her talking to him while he bathed... made her fluster. How could he even offer that so nonchalantly? She could understand if they had been married for years and had grown so comfortable with each other, but their case was different.

"No, it is fine. I can wait," she said and she saw his mischievous smirk before proceeding to the bathroom as if he knew she was just shy to do it.

Wait, he told her no kissing and no making love unless she agreed to a real marriage... was he trying to tempt her so he could have his way? Did he think she would be the one to give in first? Lauren slumped into the bed as she thought about it.

"Hah," she scoffed at her assumption. She wanted to laugh but she suppressed it as Alec might hear her. Perhaps did he think that because he was the only man she gave herself to, she would be crazy over his touch? The thought slightly annoyed her but she didn’t dwell on it.

Instead of thinking about Alec and his playful tricks, she just got the book on the bedside table and read it while waiting for him to be done. She had been trying to finish the book these days during her free time. It was about a woman with many secrets who fell in love for the first time. The book caught her interest as she found the main character relatable.

As she turned page by page, a certain paragraph caught her attention.

’I don’t care about the world now. I’m dying and I don’t even know why I am bound to die at a young age. But now that my days are numbered, I just want to spend the rest of my days with the love of my life...’

Lauren did not expect the main character of the story to choose to be with the man she loved on her last days regardless of the problems they had to face. She said that she would never regret taking the risk because she believed she would be at peace knowing that she expressed her feelings and did all she could do to give back the love she received from her man.

Lauren felt an unsettling twist in her stomach. She looked at the bathroom door and thought... what if she would regret not telling Alec everything? What if she would regret not telling him her true feelings?

She was confused and torn. She wanted to be happy on her last days... to have the courage the main character of the book had. But the fears were eating her up. Now that she was seeing how Alec took care of her... she was scared of what else he was capable of. She was scared that he might go too far and hurt himself at the end.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read